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Mayor objects to rejection of RTC plan
Published 11:10am Wednesday, April 4, 2012The Fergus Falls City Council was unanimous Monday in rejecting developer Geitso Export Management’s proposal to redevelop the Regional Treatment Center property.
Mayor Hal Leland, however, did not approve of the outcome.
“The resolution is approved with much regret,” he said after the votes came in.
The comment was one of several Leland made throughout the night in support of Geitso CEO Atul Wahi’s plan to turn the RTC into a business/art/education/tourism center called The Global XChange Village. The council ultimately rejected the proposal because Wahi would not supply asked-for financial information or the $5 million in security money up front.
Leland, however, believes the council should have given Wahi a little more leeway.
“I think a more reasonable approach should be taken to try and encourage the one remaining developer who has the courage and the will to continue … some kind of development with the city council,” he said.
That Wahi was the only developer of the original seven interested in the RTC serves as evidence to Leland that the request for proposals process was flawed from the start.
“We had established an RFP process that was virtually impossible for any developer to complete,” said Leland.
Though he acknowledged that Wahi could have helped his case by handing over more financial details, Leland said it was unrealistic to believe that all but the most wealthy of developers could simply give the city a $5 million check without investor support – support he said could not come without the city moving forward with at least a letter of intent.
“It is a roadblock that I think (the council) really knew was going to kill the deal,” Leland said.
Leland did agree that the council must require the developer to provide financial protection, but he would have been content with Wahi’s proposal to provide the $5 million after a developer agreement but before any work would begin or the title transferred.
Moving forward, Leland said he hopes the council does more due diligence to determine what, if any, historical tax credits will be lost if parts of the Kirkbride building are torn down in favor of keeping other parts for historical purposes. An example discussed before at city meetings is the demolition of the Kirkbride “horseshoe” in favor of just keeping the central tower.
“Until we know exactly what the implications are, it’s absolutely foolish to demolish anything,” he said.
The council plans on considering more plans from developers who were previously interested in the RTC. Leland said he hopes some will come forward with ideas, but he’s worried that the council’s interaction with Wahi might scare some away.
“I think the way this situation was treated would cause anyone to pause (before doing) business with the city of Fergus Falls,” he said, adding, “If I were a developer, I wouldn’t want to touch it with a 10-foot pole.”
It is more than just passing interest to note that when this city council moves to protect the taxpayers, our Liberal hearted Mayor, Hal Leland always objects with regrets.
He just loves spending your taxes and works to increase them any way he can….
hey dave take your liberal bias bull and walk it down the road..if you are a CONservative..then its your party that gave us this recession and refuses to pay the cost to fix it. Its your tea bags that force those tax breaks that let millionaires pay 15% on investment income..and then use that savings to fund those citizen united super pacs.meanwhile college kids pay higher tuitions to support those tax breaks.. the only reason the mayor was reluctant to let this program drop..IS IT WOULD BE GOOD FOR THE KIDS.. but then you repubs dont care about kids. thats proven everytime your boy ryan submits a budget that calls for more tax breaks and cuts to education spending to pay for them.. walk away CON
Good points Hal Thanks!
Mr. Schmidt, I realize that you and your fellow Friends of the Kirkbride have toiled long in the vineyards of lobbying to preserve the RTC. It is a commendable goal. But, should your zeal be such that you are willing to throw all caution to the winds and grab on to any pipe dream, financed by whims and fantasies, to gain control of the property, possibly demolish it for greater profit than re purposing and retro fitting? Regardless your personal disappointment at the outcome so far, would you approve that the council just hand over the property to a person who can’t, or won’t show proper bona fides or financial wherewithal to undertake his nebulous plans for the future of the Kirkbride?
Mr. Mullens, perhaps you and some of the other more educated people should actually read the proposal. This is a job that requires many very intelligent people to put together a plan that works. WAIT, It has worked, the Foshay Tower in Minneapolis, then again there is the Landmark center in St Paul, then again the Schmidt Brewery in St Paul, Oh and I better not forget the Fitgers Brewery in Duluth. I don’t believe any of these same investors or General Managers lost a dime, and have a lot to be proud of. Unlike the people who put this RFP together with it designed to fail, these people are ready to come together and make this work, put people to work, and maybe some of our young people will stay or come back after they graduate from college. I think perhaps you and the others of you mind should study up on some of these things. If that fails you try to raise 5 million dollars in a two month time period, and let us know how you succeed
OOOOoooo. Its always for “the kids!”
But when it comes to laying the money on the table, these liberal birds always fail to step-up-to-the-plate and deliver the funds!
And we did not cause the recession. Blaming the RTC and its issues to the ‘tea bags’? then give the mayor a buy out cause he thought it was ‘good for the kids?”
What planet you from?
All they are asking for is for someone with a plan, who can produce the CASH UP FRONT, and not use taxpayer money. What part of THAT do you not understand?
the teaparty and GOP in general caused the recession with the Bush tax cuts which is in reality just another face of welfare, of course the rightwingers generally don’t see any money they get from a Govt. policy as welfare but, it still is!
Nothing was said about this being for the kids. If you unlike some of the others who like to make a lot of noise, actually read the proposal you would see that there is not any danger to the city tax payers. Mayhap you should study up on the written words, that you may better understand the written word….
Hey Dave and Jerome, when those you shadow like a monkeys tail vote to stop giving the oil companies millions and millions year after year then you will have the right to complain about the recession, the debt, the deficit and taxes. Until then you merely provide thin smoke for a corrupt enterprise.
Spin it anyway you wish, Chip.